What Is a Golf Handicap?

The golf handicap has been leveling the playing field since — well, woods were made of wood, and irons were made of iron. It’s a way to create a match between golfers of differing skill levels, essentially turning a total rout into something far more competitive. So, if you’re wondering, “What is a golf handicap?” we have the answer. Here’s everything you need to know about a golf handicap, how to calculate yours, and ultimately make yourself a bit more respectable on the golf course.

What Is a Golf Handicap?

A handicap in golf measures how good you are on the links. Stretching between 0 and 54, the lower your golf handicap, the better you are at the sport over an 18-hole round. A 0 handicap is known as a scratch golfer; only 2% of golfers achieve this level.

On the flip side, a 54-handicap golfer is as rough as it gets in the game of golf. It’s the maximum handicap and the starting point for beginners. But with some practice on the putting green or time on the driving range.

For a sense of what to aim for, the average handicap is 15.6 for men and 31.7 for women, according to the USGA (United States Golf Association).

In the middle sits a bogey golfer, who, as the name implies, averages about a bogey on each hole (score of 90) and has a handicap of around 20. This score is respectable, and it’s one that a beginner should strive to achieve if they want to participate in amateur tournaments in either stroke play or match play or have a reasonable shot at making some cash on golf-betting games with friends.

For example, if you have a golf handicap of 24, you’re essentially spotted 24 strokes on a course. So if you shoot a 94 on a par-70 course, the 24 strokes you get would mean you hit par! Another example would be that you have a handicap of 30. If you’re on a par-72 course and you shoot a 100, you would shoot two strokes less than your handicap, equating to a 2 under par. That’s not bad shooting, considering.

The Official Handicap in Golf Defined

The United States Golf Teachers Federation (USGTF) defines a golf handicap as “a measure of his current ability over an entire round of golf, signified by a number. The lower the number, the better the golfer is.”

Moreover, the USGA classifies a golf handicap system as one that “promotes equitable competition for all genders and ages by allowing players to compete fairly on any rated course.”

Essentially, it’s both a measure of skill and a way to create a more interesting game, whether you’re an established veteran or a newbie on the golf course. However, one flaw of the handicap system is that it doesn’t account for playing conditions. As a result, you may want to record your handicap scores only when the conditions are decent. Otherwise, your handicap net score may suffer.

If you want to track your playing ability through the USGA on your quest for a good golf handicap, use the GHIN. Created by the USGA, the Golf Handicap & Information Network tracks your scores via an official scorecard or the GHIN app. By consistently uploading your scores every time you play a round — whether your best scores or worst scores — you can keep track of your golf handicap and ultimately become a better golfer.

A Brief, Hopefully Not Too Boring History of the Golf Handicap

Getting your ass handed to you on the course seems like an obvious reason why someone would create a golf handicap. But as golf is the quintessential gentleman’s game (and the lady’s game), the handicap was a simple way to keep things fair.

The original handicap was first mentioned in the late 17th century, but the idea didn’t gain traction until the late 19th century as the sport grew in popularity in Britain. The first handicap was typically the average of a golfer’s top three scores during the year subtracted from par.

However, this idea didn’t consider course ratings (difficulty of each course) and the number of strokes per course. This made it increasingly difficult for handicappers to hit their assigned score and a marked downturn on the fairness spectrum.

To make this system even more complicated, almost every golf governing body in each country had a different handicap index or rules.

The USGA Handicap

In 1911, the USGA introduced its modern iteration of the handicap system. While it was initially based on the British three-score average, the USGA quickly found that this wasn’t exactly fair.

This led to the par rating system based on the scores of scratch golfers, as well as course handicap ratings and the slope rating, which measures the difficulty of a course based on the average of a bogey golfer rather than a scratch golfer.

The World Handicap System vs. the USGA Handicap System

Although the USGA handicap method gained traction throughout North America, five other golfing associations had their own handicapping systems. This led to confusion and problems, especially in international competitions or even with amateur golfers trying to play overseas on vacation.

That’s why the major golf associations finally decided to create the World Handicap System, which created a single handicapping system for every golf course worldwide.

Introduced in 2020, the World Handicap System replaced the USGA Handicap System and all other handicap systems in the U.S. and abroad.

Without getting too much into the complicated methodology among the six major golf associations, the World Handicap System mimics the USGA Handicap System regarding slope ratings and course ratings with sprinklings of the five other associations thrown into the mix.

It approximates how well you might play on a specific course based on the top eight scores you’ve achieved over the last 20 rounds. Today, 119 countries use this, so you should be good to go no matter where you want to hit the links.

What Is a Golf Handicap and How Is It Different From a Handicap Index?

Golf handicap and handicap index are often used interchangeably. However, differentiating between the two is important.

• Golf Handicap: A number related to the number of strokes a golfer regularly shoots above par.
• Handicap Index: A golf rating based on how you shoot plus the course and slope rating. This is your official handicap per the USGA system.

Another way to decipher whether you’re discussing your handicap or handicap index is by looking at the number itself. If the figure has a decimal, it’s the handicap index. If it’s a whole number, it’s the handicap.

How To Calculate Your Handicap in Golf — Or More Accurately — Your Handicap Index

Now you’re finally thinking, “OK, so what is a golf handicap, and how do I calculate my own?” Those are valid points, but at least the needlessly complicated history and methodology needed a quick discussion. So without further ado, here’s how to calculate your handicap in golf for different courses — but bear in mind — it’s a bit more involved than you may have anticipated.

1. Grab a calculator.
2. Add your top eight rounds over your last 20 times on the course. If you haven’t played that much, you need at least your last five scores on 18-hole courses. For the sake of ease, let’s stick with the top eight rounds over the last 20 rounds.
3. Again, for simplicity, let’s assume that your top eight scores added up to 720 or 90 per round, and they were all on a par-72 course. Then, you need to turn your scores into how many strokes over par you were. In this example, you would average 18 strokes over par. This is known as your handicap index.
4. Let’s try another example, all on a par-72 course. Your top eight rounds were 81, 80, 89, 88, 88, 84, 92, and 95. Add these together to get 697, then divide by eight — the number of rounds — to get 87.1. Subtract 72 — par for the course — and you would have a handicap of 15.1 — or 15.
5. However, there’s more than meets the eye in the World Handicap System (WHS). It has a maximum score per hole. So if you shot a 10 on a par-4 but the WHS states that only 6 is the max on that hole, you would need to adjust your score by giving yourself 4 strokes. You would do this for any hole you shot more than the maximum strokes. The maximum number of strokes is known as a net double bogey. The difference between net double bogey and your actual score is your adjusted gross score.
6. Now that you have the needed numbers, you can calculate your official World Handicap System handicap. This is known as your course handicap.
7. To get this number, take your handicap index and multiply it by the slope rating for the course divided by 113 — known as the handicap differential. Then, add the course rating assigned to each course for a scratch golfer and subtract par to get your handicap.

What Is a Golf Handicap? Figure It Without Hurting Your Brain With This Quick Example

Confusing enough? Here’s the formula written out to keep your wits about you:

• Your Handicap = [Your Handicap Index * (Slope rating/113)] + (Course rating - par)
• For example, let’s assume these things:
• Your Handicap Index = 15
• Slope rating = 115
• Course rating = 74
• Par = 72
• So for this example, it would be [15 * (115/113)] + (74-72). This would equal 17.27, which would equal a handicap of 17 for the course, as you remove the decimal and round down.

Remember that the course slope rating and course rating — the average score by a scratch golfer — are usually on the scorecard. If you can’t find it, ask someone at the clubhouse.

You can also use the chart from the USGA website to determine your handicap via score differentials.

What’s a Good or Bad Golf Handicap?

Where you stand on the spectrum of the golf handicap system is somewhat in the eye of the beholder. It doesn’t take into account your time on the course or experience. It’s all just what you shoot. So to that effect, there’s no good or bad golf handicap as long as you’re playing to your full potential.

Generally speaking, you can use these guidelines to determine if a player’s handicap is good or bad:

• Low handicap: Handicap of 9 or less, resulting in most rounds in the 70s
• Mid handicap: Handicap between 10 and 20, resulting in most rounds in the 80s or low 90s
• High Handicap: Handicap above 20, resulting in most rounds in the high 90s or even 100s

How To Improve Your Golf Handicap

What is a golf handicap? It’s a number that should motivate to get your butt out on the course. So if you want to shave some strokes off your handicap calculation of 30 and lower them once and for all, practice and playing regularly is probably the only way to do it.

Add an office putting green to the home office, hit the driving range, get fitted for the right golf clubs, play hooky to get on the course, or do whatever you need. You might find your 18-hole score and bad holes drop significantly, firmly cementing you into a respectable handicap.

The choice is yours. But if you want to impress on the golf course, the lowest handicap comes with a prestige that few other achievements do. So what are you waiting for? Get out there and play.